Friday, December 18, 2009

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, says the Obama administration is stalling in providing information to the leaders of the House and Senate and the congressional intelligence committees on the multiple murders allegedly committed by a radical Muslim Army officer at Fort Hood more than a month ago.

So far, the committee chairman and congressional leaders have received no detailed, substantive briefing on the event and what is known about its perpetrator.

“You know, they’re playing out the string,” Hoekstra said Thursday. “We’re going home next week, (and) they will have effectively made it through three months with giving no substantive briefings on Fort Hood.”

CNSNews.com asked Hoekstra whether it was “a constitutional affront not to have the Gang of 8 briefed on this?”

“Oh yeah, sure, absolutely,” said Hoekstra.

The Gang of 8 is a group of leaders from the House and Senate who by law are supposed to be briefed on U.S. intelligence activities when the matter is too sensitive to share with the full intelligence committees.

The group includes the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the majority and minority leaders of each chamber.

Additionally, the law holds that the administration must “ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States.”

When a reporter said he thought the Gang of 8 had been briefed on the intelligence report regarding the attack, Hoekstra said the committees had been given a preliminary briefing a few weeks ago that lacked substantive information.